Kamen Rider Malik
by KRR-01
Summary: The city of Neo-Córdoba was lost for centuries. However, after being attacked, Sal travels to the city to find himself in a war between two beings who fight over an incredible power. To stop this war, he must become Kamen Rider Malik. DISCONTINUED!
1. Chapter 1

**Kamen Rider Malik**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Kamen Rider franchise-it belongs to Toei and Ishinomori Shotaro! Only the OCs and OC Riders are original as well as the plot!

KR Raika: Just a weird idea I had for a while. Enjoy!

Summary: The city of Neo-Córdoba was lost for centuries in the sands of time. However, after being attacked, Sal travels to the city to find himself in a war between two beings who fight over an incredible power. To stop this war, he must become Kamen Rider Malik. Lame summary, but please R&R!

Chapter 1 

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_ The continent of Europe was once engulfed in an age simply named the Dark Ages. It was a time of continuous warfare amongst different nations as monarchs tried to expand their land as much as possible. The people under them locked in what seemed to be an eternal system that prevented any social mobility. Fortunately, periods of knowledge and intellect, such as the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, brought an end to that period. The people were taken out of that feudal system, allowing them to experience economic prosperity and political freedom._

_ However, in this world, the countries of the world continue their medieval ways of ruling separate their separate kingdoms and fighting over dominance. Technology has become incorporated into such conflicts, giving armies the weapons, such as laser rifles and cannons to eliminate more of their foes. Though the feudal system was removed, the people do not experience that much social mobility and still are forced to follow their rulers. Interestingly enough, there is one country that is different from rest: Spain._

_ Spain, like the other European countries, does have its continuous medieval warfare, but there are some differences that set it apart from the others. In the north of Spain lies the Castillian Empire, while in the south was Moorish kingdom of the Tariqun Caliphate. Both are warring empire seeking to expand its territories, but they also allow more social and political mobility than the other nations. Still, it would seem that there was another about to rise from the shadows of the past..._

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The Tariqun Caliphate stretched from its capital city of Granada all the way up to the border, where it met with the Castillian Empire. Though there would be conflicts at the border, the two kingdoms managed to retain some form peace between one another, though it wasn't always like this. At first, the Tariqun Caliphate was a small kingdom, but after a few decades, it expanded into a large empire as it took some lands from the Castillian Empire. All of the land within southern Spain was under the rule of the Caliph, save for the lone city of Seville.

Since Seville was the only city not apart of the Caliph's kingdom, many attempts were made to conquer it only to meet with failures. Generals upon generals would return to Granada to report their failure to the Caliph, who would then employ someone else to besieged the city. For over five decades, the Caliph's forces have failed over and over again to reach their goal and within a few weeks, Seville was under the rule of the Caliph.

Seville's walls once stood tall and proud, but were now battered from the days of being bombarded by blasts from laser cannons and blaster rifles. Fortunately, it was being reconstructed by both the Caliph's soldiers as well as the soldiers of Seville. If anyone would see this, they would be shocked and confused at the sight of this. Two forces that were once enemies were now working together in fixing the city's walls.

The soldiers of the Caliph wore the usual bronze domed-shaped helmet as well as a black breastplate over the green pants and shirt. Each one carried a blaster rifle along with a sword meant for close combat, like the knights of Seville. Seville's knights wore the typical gray armor of knights with round helmets over their heads. The ones directing the reconstruction were the nobles of Seville as well as the commanders of the Caliph soldiers, and supervising them was none other than the king of Seville, Henry.

Though he was in his early fifties, one could tell Henry was well built, despite the red robe covering his yellow shirt. He also wore yellow pants that were held up by a white sash around his waist, where his sheathed sword hung from. Henry had green eyes and dirty blond hair that went down to his neck, touching his fair skin.

Henry stood there with his hands clasped behind his back as he watched his soldiers help the Caliph's soldiers in rebuilding the wall of the city he ruled. The king of Seville was happy at the sight of the wall being rebuilt, but he was also shocked. At first, these soldiers were trying to kill each other, but now they were helping each other, something which rarely happens. Seville was conquered by the Moorsish of the Tariqun Caliphate, but they did not harm any of the civilians, like other rulers would. And that was just a few weeks ago.

The king of Seville couldn't help but let out a lightly chuckle at that thought. '_I can't believe it's only been a few weeks_,' he thought to himself. '_It still feels like yesterday..._'

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(Flashback-three weeks ago)

_ As Seville's walls were attacked by the forces of the Caliph, inside was the city of Seville itself with its citizens inside shelters to be protected from the cannons and blasters. The soldiers, on the other hand, were on the walls trying to keep the Caliph's forces from entering the walls as they fired their own blasters and cannons at their opponents. Among the soldiers was Henry, who wore his usual robes, but he also wore gray gauntlets and boots on his forearms and legs as well as a gray breastplate on his chest. "Hold your ground men!" he encouraged them to keep up morale. "We can't let them get passed this wall!"_

_ One of the nobles, who wore a brown cape over his gray armor, approached the king. "My king!" the nobleman bowed his head in respect._

_ Turning his head towards the nobleman, the King of Seville immediately demanded, "What is it?"_

_ "Your majesty, a division of the invading forces have turned towards from our walls!" the nobleman reported with a hint of urgency in his tone. _

_ Henry grinned as he felt a hint of pride overcome him. "Good! That means we have them on the run!"_

_ Before the king could continue his boast, the nobleman interrupted, "But my king, our forces that we sent out are being attacked by that division!"_

_ Henry's grin left his face as it was filled with shock and surprise. "Are you sure?" Henry demanded._

_ "Yes," the nobleman confirmed. "The remaining forces have retreated back to the walls before they could be captured."_

_ Seville's king let out a sigh of frustration before ordering, "Tell them to go to the healers. They'll need to regain their strength."_

_ The nobleman nodded as he left the king, but before Henry could resume keeping his soldiers in check, a gray-armored knight called out, "My king, someone is attacking the eastern wall!"_

_ Henry's head whipped towards the soldier. "What? Who's attacking us?" Henry demanded._

_ Before anyone could answer, a part of the eastern wall of Seville exploded as bricks of stone went flying into the air and striking some of the King's knights. The king and some of the nobles turned their attention towards the eastern wall to see a large hole in the lower bit of the wall with smoke coming out of it. "Send what remaining knights we have to defend that area!" the king immediately ordered as ran down the steps in hopes of reaching the eastern wall. "We can't afford anyone to get in!"_

_ As if on cue, a group of gray armored knights immediately arrived at the eastern wall with their swords and pikes out, ready to fight whoever was coming through. While the king ran across the grounds, he noticed smoke came out of the hole and covered the entire area, which made it hard for the knight already there to see their enemies. Much to Henry's shock, he saw his knights were being eliminated, one by one, by a figure, whose form was blurred by the smoke. Henry fastened his pace in hopes of arriving there sooner, but he was already too late for the knights at the eastern wall were already lying on the ground, either unconscious or wounded._

_ Upon arriving the eastern wall, Henry tried to get a good look of the person responsible for this, and though the smoke blurred his vision, the King of Seville could see a figure standing in the center of the defeated knights. Henry could see the figure wearing black armor and had green eyes with a curved sword in his hands. The rest of his features were hidden by the smoke coming from hole in the eastern wall as well as the blasters and cannons nearby. '_Who is he?_' Henry wondered._

_ Some of the king's knights that had arrived with Henry charged at the unknown figure only to be struck down by a shining blade or by the figure's fists. Done with the knights, the figure turned his attention towards the king of Seville, which made Henry draw his sword out his scabbard. Henry charged at the black armored figure and swung his sword at him, but the smoke worsen the King's vision as his sword only hit the air around him instead of his opponent. The figure dodged the attack before he swung his sword at Henry, who brought his sword up in time to block it. Their blades were locked against one another with the king trying to overcome his opponent by putting more pressure on his blade._

_ However, the king of Seville would not have any luck as the figure arced his curved blade upward, sending Henry's sword into the sky. Before he could react, Henry found the figure's sword at his throat while his sword landed on the ground with a 'clank.' Henry stared into the green eyes, which he now realized were actual compound lenses, as the figure kept his sword against Henry's throat. "Do you yield?" the figure asked._

_ The King of Seville sighed in defeat and spoke the words he never thought would be spoken. "I yield."_

(Flashback end)

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"My king!" a voice called out.

Henry's trance was broken as he turned around see one of his knights approaching him. The knight was in his late twenties with fair skin, brown hair, and blue eyes. He wore the usual attire of a brown shirt and pants with a black belt around his waist along with the usual gray gauntlets and boots. "My king!" the knight bowed his head in respect.

Turning his head towards the knight, the King of Seville immediately demanded, "What is it?"

"Your majesty, _he _is coming!" the nobleman reported with a hint of urgency in his tone.

The king of Seville knew _he _was; the conqueror of Seville, the one who bested him in combat. Henry questioned, "Did he say when?"

"He should be arriving very shortly, sire," the knight answered. "He wanted me to let you know in advance."

When the knight said that, Henry noticed a familiar figure walking towards his direction, which made the king smirk at that. "I believe he's already here," Henry stated.

The knight and the king saw the figure came close to them, revealing itself to be a young man about twenty with light tanned skin, short dark brown hair, and blue eyes. On his body, the young man wore a green shirt and pants that were held up by a black sash. '_Sal_,' Seville's king recognized. '_The conqueror of Seville._'

Henry turned towards his knight and spoke, "Thank you. You may resume your duties."

After the knight left, Henry's attention went back towards the young man named Sal, who greeted, "Greetings, my king."

Henry could not help but smile at Sal as he held out his hand towards the young man. "Just call me Henry, Sal," Seville's king insisted. "It's the least I can do for someone who still lets me rule over my kingdom, unlike other conquerors."

"I'm afraid I can't, especially in front of your soldiers," Sal argued, yet with a smile.

Seville's king just grinned at him. "We're no longer enemies, and besides, you let me call you Sal."

"That's because I'm only a soldier, not a king," Sal chuckled as he grasped Henry's hand.

The king of Seville chuckled at that as well. "True, true."

Once releasing his grip from Henry's hand, Sal asked, "So, how's the reconstruction of the wall coming along?"

"Pretty well," he answered. "So far, we have over half of the wall rebuilt. Within a few more weeks, the entire wall will be as good as new!"

A wave of irony came over the two when they both heard a loud explosion, which made both Sal and Henry whip their heads around to see a loud cloud of smoke arising from a section of the rebuilt wall. Immediately, the conqueror of Seville and its king ran towards the cloud of smoke, and as they did, they noticed some soldiers were running away from the source of the explosion. Those that did not run away were lying on the ground, only injured from the explosion. When they arrived at the large cloud of smoke, they noticed a large chunk of the wall was missing with bricks piled on top of one another. Standing on top of the large rubble was the source of the explosion.

The source of the explosion was a masculine figure who wore a black bodysuit underneath his purple armor. The figure had black lines etched onto his purple chest plate, gauntlets, boots, and round shoulder guards. His round helmet had a silver mouth guard and a pair of antennae protruding above the black eye lenses. Around his waist was a white belt with a black gem in the center of his silver, hexagonal buckle, and hanging from the left side of his belt was a scabbard that held a sword with a curved blade and a white handle.

"What is that?" Henry exclaimed.

Everyone else wondered the same thing as they stared at the figure, save for Sal, who ordered, "Henry, get everyone far away here."

The king of Seville nodded as he ran towards those injured and help them retreat a safe distance from the area. When Henry left, Sal's attention was turned back towards the armored figure who looked back at the young man. "So, you finally showed yourself," the armored figure stated.

"I'm here," Sal nodded, "and I want answers!"

The figure smirked underneath his helmet. "Well, you're going to have to fight me to get them."

After Sal let out a groan of frustration, a belt suddenly materialized around his waist. The belt was similar to the figure's, except it was colored in gold, the gem was green, and the sword had a black scabbard and handle. "Henshin!" Sal exclaimed as his right hand grasped the buckle.

Henry, who was attending to some of the injured workers, heard the cry and turned to see a green light emerged from Sal's buckle and engulfed the young man's human form. It blinded everyone in the vicinity, and once the flash of green light retreat back into Sal's buckle, another armored figure stood in Sal's place. "My lord, look!" one of the king's announced, making Henry look at Sal's form.

Sal now wore a golden bodysuit underneath his golden chest armor that had two black plates on it. He wore black gauntlets and boots, and his box-shaped shoulder guards had golden trimmings on them. His black helmet was round with a pair of antennae protruding from the forehead and plates on his silver mouth guard that made it look like mandibles. His green lenses flashed with emerald energy.

As to who he was, Henry identified 'Sal' in one word: "Malik."

Sal, now Malik, drew his sword from its sheath as he charged at the purple armored figure. Malik swung his sword the purple figure, who simply blocked it with his own sword. "C'mon Malik, you can do better than that," the figure challenged.

Malik let out a low growl as he slashed his sword against the sword belong to the figure, retaliated with a slash to Malik's head, who raised his sword to block it and quickly avoided another slash from the figure. As for the figure, he was fortunate to dodge a slash in time and to back away from Malik before he parried another slash. When Malik saw the figure thrusting his sword at him, he moved to the side before slashing his own sword at the figure, who merely blocked it. However, their blades would not separate this time as the two armored figures pressed the blades against each other, making them in a deadlock.

"Why did you attack them? Was it to get my attention?" Malik demanded.

Instead of receiving an actual answer, Malik heard the figure in front of him merely chuckle. "You still haven't change, Sal," the figure stated.

Malik then felt a knee from the purple armored figure dive into his stomach, which forced him back. The figure swung his sword horizontally at Malik, but he avoided the swing as he backed away. The purple armored figure continued his offensive assault as he slashed at Malik's head only for Malik to blocked it. Malik switched from defense to offense as he tried striking again and again with his blade, but each slash he sent would be stopped by the purple figure's sword. Once their blades met, the figure grabbed onto Malik's sword arm, and when he noticed this, Malik did the same, putting themselves in another deadlock.

"Just what are you doing here?" Malik demanded as he pressed his blade against the figure's. "I thought you were..."

"You thought wrong," the figure interrupted.

With that, the figure used all of his might to bring their locked swords crashing into the ground before he raised a free elbow to strike Malik in his armored chin. Fortunately for Malik, he was quick enough to raised a free hand to grab the figure's arm and stop it from colliding with his chin. Malik proceeded to bring his head back and slam his helmet into the figure's own, breaking the lock on their blades as the figure staggered back a bit. With the figure a little disoriented, Malik charged and slashed his sword at the figure with his blade striking the figure's chest armor. Sparks flew as the figure staggered back some more but this time Malik did not pursue, which allowed the figure to recover. Staring at Malik, the figure stood up and laughed.

"That's more like it!" the figure grinned underneath his mouth guard and he charged at his opponent.

Malik did his best not to get chopped up by the purple figure's sword as he dodged another slash before striking his blade at figure's stomach. The figure brought his blade down to block Malik's before he swung it at his opponent's shoulder. Fortunately for Malik, he ducked before slashing at the figure's chest armor, which forced his opponent back, and wasted no time as he slashed at figure's head only for figure to block it with his sword. The two backed away from each other to gain some space and soon found themselves circling each other.

After moments of silence passed between the two warriors, the purple armored figure stated, "Looks like we're at a standstill."

Though he was wary of the figure before him, Malik nodded in agreement. "Seems like it."

Much to Malik's surprise, the figure sheathed his sword before striking a pose with his right foot stretched behind his left one. "Why don't we finish this then?" the figure asked with a playful tone.

Malik recognized the stance, so he too sheathed his sword before outstretching his right foot in front of his left one. The spectators observed the two warriors remained unmoved as silver energy began covering their respective right foot. Once their feet were fully charged, the two leaped into the air and stuck out their right foot that was now engulfed in energy. "_King's Strike!_" Malik announced his attack.

"_Royal Smash!_" came from the figure.

Once the two attacks crashed into each other, the result was an explosion that caused everyone watching to look away so they did not get any dust in their eyes. As for Malik and the figure, the explosion sent the two warriors crashing into the ground filled with dirt and grass. The purple armored figure was the first to get up as smoke rose from his foot. Malik proceeded to stand as well, but his reaction time was a little slower since due to the pain he felt in his right foot that collided with the figure's own.

The two stared down each other as they tried to suppress the pain they felt from the collision of the powered attacks. "Not bad Sal," the figure smirked, grunting a little from the pain. "Nice to see you still have it."

"Glad to see I satisfied your curiosity," Malik said sarcastically before demanding, "Now tell what are you doing here!"

"If you want to know, then meet me at Neo-Córdoba," was the figure's answer.

When hearing the name, Malik mentally cursed every word that would make a sailor blush. '_Why of all places there?_' Malik bitterly thought.

Malik's anger went away when he saw the figure leaping into the air to escape. Before the purple armored figure attempted to leave, Malik lunged at him in hopes of catching him yet was too late. The figure's form turned into a blur that was covered in the smoke from the explosion, allowing the figure to escape without anyone seeing him. Among those that watched the figure escaping was Henry who ordered his soldiers, "After him! Search the entire area! I don't care how long it takes!"

"Don't bother Henry," Henry heard Malik tell him. The king swerved his head towards the black armored form of Malik to see him walking towards the king of Seville as he dusted off his armor. "Your troops wouldn't find him if they tried. Leaving without a trace was always his specialty."

As Malik walked towards Henry, his armored form was covered in a flash of green light that emerged from the green gem in his buckle. The flash returned whence it came from, leaving the young man named Sal, who walked up towards Seville's king. "I take it you know that man," Henry stated.

"All too well," Sal nodded, somewhat hesitantly. After looking at the state of the soldiers, Sal told Henry, "Best if you get to your soldiers, now. We'll talk about this later."

Henry nodded before he ran towards his soldiers to check upon their condition, while Sal just turned towards the destroyed wall that was damaged by the armored figure. As he stared at it, Sal could not help but feel that this was just the beginning...

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KR Raika: And that's it! Please leave your comments in the reviews, and if you have any criticism, please let it be _**constructive**_!

Now, this fic does deviate from the other fics you may read, but I was inspired by the history of Spain under the Moors. However, I didn't want it to actually take place in past, so I took the futuristic elements from shows, like _Samurai Jack_, to turn it into this. I hope that explains it for you guys!

Raika out!

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	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider at all! It belongs to Toei and Ishinomori Shotaro! Only the OCs and OC Riders are original as well as the plot!

KR Raika: This is chapter two! Enjoy!

Chapter 2

The king's palace stood at the edge of the Seville, away from the front walls that protected the large city from attacking invaders. It was the largest building in Seville as it was box-shaped with a few soldiers guarding the large brown door as well as the few glass windows it had. Long poles were placed outside of the palace to show the flags of the Tariqun Caliphate as well as the flags of Seville flapping in the wind.

Inside the palace was the throne room that was like any other throne room of the Europeans kings as it was gray with the flags of Seville hanging on the side of the walls. The gray floor was covered by a simple red rug that extended from one end of them the throne room to the other, while the king's bronze throne was placed at the far end. At the edges of the throne room were smaller chairs for the king's advisors, generals, and other government officials to sit. The smaller chairs were empty, yet the king of Seville sat in his throne, awaiting the arrival of Sal.

As he waited, Henry noticed a man, who recognized as one of his soldiers due to his uniform, entering the throne before bowing to the king in respect. "My king," the soldier greeted.

"What do you have to report?" Henry questioned.

"The section of the wall that was recently attack has been abandoned as you ordered," his subordinate informed. "Those that were wounded in the attack are now in the infirmary."

"Very well," Henry nodded as he motioned for the soldier to leave. "You are dismissed."

Bowing, the soldier turned around to leave the room, and as he left, the young commander of the Caliph's army enter the throne room at the same time. Henry looked at Sal, and smiled, "I see you're doing well."

However, Sal did not return the smile as he spoke, "I was looking over the damage done. It'll take another week to fix it before we can back on schedule."

Henry's smile left his face as he noted the seriousness in Sal's tone. "That's not the problem though. The problem is that man. Just who is he?"

"He's someone I used to work with," was Sal's response, "before I joined the Caliph's army."

The king of Seville did accept that explanation, but he knew that Sal was hiding something from him so he continued with his questions. "But there's more to him. He has the same powers as you," Henry pointed out. "How is that possible? I mean, I heard rumors about you and your armor and I didn't believe them until I met you. But for someone else to have the _same _power is shocking."

"It is," Sal nodded at Henry's words. "But you shouldn't worry about it, too much. For now, you should focus on rebuilding the wall. I assure you it won't be attacked twice."

Henry stared at the young man before him, and though he was suspicious of what Sal was hiding, he nodded for he trusted the young commander. "Very well. Is there anything else?"

At first, Sal was going to say no, but held back his tongue as he thought his words carefully, and after a few moments of silence, he finally answered. "Yes," Sal nodded somewhat hesitantly. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave for a while."

That answer took Seville's king by surprise as he questioned, "You're leaving? Where are you going?"

Sal's response was, "That I'm afraid I can't say."

Henry would have asked as to why Sal was withholding the location he was traveling to, but answer already came to him as he pieced the puzzle together. "You're going to meet with that man, aren't you?"

The young man's eyes widen at Henry's deduction skills, yet he slowly nodded. "I have to. If I don't go, he'll continue to attack Seville until I come and I don't want more losses on my account," was Sal's response. His face pleaded with Henry for the king's permission. "Please, Henry."

Seeing truth his Sal's words, Henry sighed in defeat. "Very well. But what about your army? Someone needs to keep them under control."

"For now, you're in charge of the army. If I'm not back or if I don't send any messages in a month, then assume I'm dead," Sal instructed. After pondering for a moment, he added, "As for the Caliph, tell him that I'm looking into the bandit attacks near the southern coast."

Henry nodded his head, understand how dire the situation was for Sal. "When will you be leaving?" he asked.

"Immediately," replied Sal.

As the two spoke, they were unaware that someone overheard their conversation from outside of the throne room. That someone was none other than the soldier who talked with Henry only moments before Sal entered to talk with the king of Seville. '_I have to tell _him_ of this_!' the soldier thought to himself as he immediately ran down the hallway in a hurry.

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The sound of hooves pounding against the grounds could be heard from quite a distance as Sal rode his horse across the grassy plains of southern Spain. One could tell the stallion that Sal rode was mechanical for it was made of silver, metallic plates that seemed to be impenetrable and glowing yellow eyes. Its powerful legs carried Sal to his destination faster than a regular horse, which was the reason Sal chose a mechanical horse in place of a real one. "C'mon!" he urged his form of transportation to increase its speed.

Nearly a day passed since Sal left Seville for his destination, riding his mechanical horse through the terrain of southern Spain that was placed under the rule of Tariqun Caliphate. Sal barely stopped for rest and he even when he did, he only rested for half an' hour at most. During his journey, the young commander of the Caliph's army did not encounter any sign of bandits or robbers as he traveled.

As Sal traveled down the road, the surroundings became turned from a prairie to a more mountainous terrain. The small bundle of trees turned into large forests as he continued up into the large hillside of southern Spain, the area becoming more and more familiar to the young man. However, Sal did not stop as he sped up towards the large hill until... '_We're here!_' he mentally shouted.

Sal immediately pulled on the reigns to stop his ride, and his mechanical ride let out a neigh as it slowed down its velocity, stopping at the peak of the hill. Once the mechanized horse stopped at the peak of the hill, Sal looked down to see what appeared to be a city miles away. Though it was far, he still recognized it very well. "Neo-Córdoba," Sal recognized.

Neo-Córdoba was a large vast metropolis with large apartment complexes and universities surrounding the main palace in the center. The buildings were once filled with families comprised of scholars, merchants, and artisans, who all would go to the plazas or the universities nearby. Though they seemed to be a little rusted, the building were still in perfect shape. As for the palace, it was large with gardens and courtyards inside as well as a large throne room. The white wall surrounding the metropolitan city would protect it from any invaders, many bandits. Much like the medieval Córdoba of Moorish Spain, it was once a place of knowledge and power, where the ruler maintained his reign over the people.

However, that image was replaced with a Neo-Córdoba that was nothing more than an abandoned ghost town. The tall buildings that were filled with technology were now empty shells with some rust on them, much like the cube-shaped building that once housed dozens of families. In the center of the city was a large, white palace with a golden dome on a roof supported by large pillars. Surrounding it on four sides were tall, white, and cylindrical towers that had a golden tip at the end.

Sal sighed as took in the sight in front of his eyes, a sigh that was a mixture between nostalgia and contempt. "I never thought I'd return to this place again," Sal said before he kicked his mechanized horse.

Letting out a soft neigh, the automatic stallion walked down the hill and approached the city of Neo-Córdoba with Sal as its passenger. As he rode his horse towards the city, Sal though he heard the sound of metal clashing against each other, but it too faint for him to comprehend what it could be, so he dismissed it.

He continued to pass the golden arch gates of Neo-Córdoba and entered into the city revealing how large it was. The apartment complexes and universities were so large that they would out the most expensive church in all of Europe to shame. The road was once paved with black concrete on the ground, but there were now cracks all over it with sand covering most of the spots. There were even common houses that were still intact despite the damage time did to the supporting beams.

Once he was in the middle of the city, Sal noticed on his left was the palace of the ruler of Neo-Córdoba, a place he knew all too well. Since he was close, he had a better look of it. Calligraphy was etched everywhere into the white marble metal that made the brick of the palace. The golden dome shone beautifully as the beams of sunlight reflected off of it, and red carpets were placed at the silver, barred gates of the entrance. Seeing the palace, brought up many memories for the young man. Some memories that he wish he could forget.

Suddenly, Sal's head whipped around as he heard the sound of clashing metal once again, but this time it was loud enough for Sal to know what is was... '_Fighting!_' he shouted.

Immediately pulling on the reigns, Sal turned his horse to the right and kicked its side for it to speed toward the scene of battle. A bright light emerged from his stomach and took the familiar form of his golden belt with the green gem in the center. "Henshin!" Sal exclaimed and with a bright flash of light, Sal transformed into the armored form of Malik, the green eyes flashing to complete the transformation sequence.

Malik could heard that the sounds of battle becoming louder and louder as he came closer and closer to its source. When he arrived at the source of the fighting, what he saw shocked him for there two beings fighting each other. Surrounding the two were what appeared to be mechanical limbs that belonged to robots and seemed to be deadly. "What the heck?" Sal gasped.

One was the purple armored figure that he encountered at Seville, while other one was someone else. The other figure wore navy blue armor over his white bodysuit, whose form was similar to that of the Malik and the purple armored figure's form. On his chest was a chest plate were white lines that etched a muscular physique, and along with the navy blue gauntlets and boots were white bands around his wrists and ankles. Like the purple armored figure and Malik, he wore a round helmet colored navy blue with a pair of antennae protruding from between the red eye lenses. His white belt had a red gem in the center of his silver buckle and hanging from the side was a curved bladed sword with a silver handle sheathed in a brown scabbard.

The purple armored figure swung his right arm at the the navy blue figure, who raised his left armored hand to block before raising her other to block another swing. When the purple figure lashed out his right hand again, the navy blue figure redirected it before punching the his armored opponent in his armored chest. That did not stop the purple armored figure as his fist struck the navy blue figure in his torso armor that protected his side. "GAH!" the navy blue figure cried out in pain.

The navy blue figure was sent staggering back from the force of the purple figure's punch, but he immediately got up. The purple armored figure charged at his opponent, throwing a punch at the navy blue figure only for him to block it. The navy blue figure, then, forced the purple figure back with a kick to the stomach. However, that did not stop the purple figure as he once again charged at the navy blue armored figure, throwing as many punches as he could.

The purple armored figure landed a punch in the armored chest of his navy blue opponent, forcing him back once again. When he threw another punch, the navy blue figure smacked it away before punching the purple figure in the face. It was now his turned as the navy blue armored figure landed some more punches on his enemy, each one hitting its target. The navy blue figure finished his assault with a punch to the purple figure's chest,, sending him flying into a few yards away from himself. The purple figure quickly recovered from that attack as he sat up on one knee, glaring at his enemy standing across from him.

"This ends right here, Haze!" the navy blue figure shouted, drawing his sword.

"Bring it, Scimitar," the purple figure, Haze, challenged as he stood up and unsheathed his own.

Before either one could charge and continue their fight, both Haze and Scimitar heard a familiar voice stating, "Aaron? Adan?"

They both turned their heads to see the familiar form of Malik upon his mechanized form of transportation, his green eye lenses staring at the two armored warriors. "Just what are you guys going?" Malik demanded.

Scimitar wanted to give Malik an answer, but before he could, Haze snapped his figures, as if to call for something. Both Scimitar and Malik whipped their heads around to see a group of five cloaked figures suddenly rushing out of a nearby alley and in front of Haze, almost as if to protect him. The figures each wore brown cloaks around their bodies with hoods over their heads, but it did little to hide their mechanical legs and arms. The figures' limbs took a menacing form with the sharp clawed hands and feet. "Take care of them!" Haze ordered the cyborgs before he turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Malik called out to Haze.

Unfortunately for Malik, his words fell on deaf ears as Haze continued to run into the streets of Neo-Córdoba until his form had vanished into the urbanized setting. Malik would have chased after Haze if three of the cloaked figures did not charge at him with a pointed triangular blade protruding from their right arm. At the sight of the cloaked figures, Malik pulled the reigns on his mechanical horse to command it to kick out its front legs, which hit the cloaked figure in middle. When one of other two cloaked figures came at Malik's right and slashed his blade at him, Malik quickly drew his sword in time to parry the slash before stabbing the figure through the chest. Instead of blood and any human flesh coming out, Malik noticed those were replaced with wires and control panels while he slid his sword out of the cloak cybernetic figure he just stabbed. Turning his head towards the other two, Malik decided to think about it later and focus on the fight at hand.

As for Scimitar, he quickly ducked a beam from the two cloaked figures he was fighting as blasters were placed on their left arm and firing red energy bolts at him. Scimitar continue to dodge the energy bolts as he rushed towards two cloaked cyborgs and eventually used his sword to reflect on the energy bolts back at his opponents. The blast hit one of the cyborg's in the face, blinding it, and with it incapacitated, Scimitar dashed towards the other cloaked cyborg. He first landed a punch in the cloaked cyborg's face before giving the second one a roundhouse kick to the side, forcing it away. Scimitar then drove his sword through the chest of the cloaked cyborg he was focused on, sparks and wires shooting out of its back as its body shut down.

After drawing his sword from the cloaked cyborg, Scimitar turned his head towards the other one, who was still feeling the pain of an energy blast to the face. Scimitar took advantage of the situation as he sheathed his sword and charged at the remaining cloaked cyborg with silver energy covering his right foot. "_Noble Rush!_" Scimitar announced as he leaped into the air and stuck out his right foot.

The charged foot crashed into the cloaked cyborg, sending it crashing into the ground while Scimitar landed his two feet onto the ground. He stood and looked at the cloaked cyborg to it explode into a blaze of smoke, its mechanical limbs scattering across the streets. With his opponents gone, Scimitar turned his head towards Malik to see his mechanical horse using its hind legs to kick the cyborg behind it. Malik himself used his sword to block and parry the slashes coming from the other one attack from the left.

Malik leaned down to slashed his sword against the chest of the cloaked cyborg, ending its life as sparks and hardware came flying out of its chest. As that cyborg's lifeless body fell to the ground, Malik turned his horse around to face the only remaining cloaked cyborg that stood some feet across from it. Though its face was concealed by the hood, Malik could tell from the cyborg's body language it was afraid of him.

Sheathing his sword, Malik kicked the saddle and sped towards the cloaked cyborg on his mechanized horse. As he did, Malik leaped off of the horse with his right foot covered in silver energy. "_King's Strike!_" Malik announced as his charged foot crashed against the cyborg's chest.

Immediate upon impact, the cyborg let out a cry of pain before it exploded into a blaze of smoke and the smoke cleared away to reveal Malik standing where the cyborg stood. Malik was glad that was done, but his head was filled with a lot questions that only a certain navy blue figure could answer. Turning around, the flash of light that gave Malik his armored covered him once again to revert him back to Sal. "What is going on Al?" Sal demanded from Scimitar.

"Sal, now's not the time!" Scimitar spoke, his voice filled with urgency. "We need to get out of here before more of those mercenaries arrive!"

Sal sighed at that response, but he nodded his head in defeat. "Alright, but you have a lot of explaining to do, or else Aaron won't be your only problem!" Sal warned.

With that, Sal headed towards his mechanized horse and mounted it before following Scimitar to their new location, wherever that may be.

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Haze ran down the streets of Neo-Córdoba to his destination, which turned around to be the once famous market place. There were stands all over the street, most of them damaged by the course of time, and like the rest of the city, were not longer inhabited by the denizens. Haze stopped running and turned his head around to see no one was following, much to his relief. The gem in Haze's buckle glowed brightly and the glow covered his entire body, reverting Haze to his true form.

'Haze' was a young man in his late twenties whose feature looked a lot like Sal's with the light tanned skin, and dark brown hair that went down to his neck. The only thing that seemed different was that this man had a nearly trimmed mustache above his lip and green eyes. He wore a brown shirt and pants with black shoes on his feet and a white leather belt around his waist.

Turning around, 'Haze' prepared to leave the area, but stop at the sight of more cloaked cybernetic figures, who were mercenaries, walking out of the ruined stands. 'Haze' kept his green eyes focused on the tallest one, whose mechanical limbs seemed more menacing than the other's. "What do you want?" 'Haze' asked impatiently. "I promised you and you men would get the gold as long as you helped me."

The tallest one, who was the leader of the cloaked cybernetic mercenaries, approached 'Haze.' "Gold doesn't mean anything to us if we're dead!" he snarled. "You told us to take care of Scimitar! You never said anything about that other guy being here!"

'Haze' simply smirked. "It's apart of the plan."

"What plan would that be?" the leader of the mercenaries demanded. "Would it be to kill us all, so you can have the gold to yourself? "

"Don't worry about it too much," 'Haze' assured. "Just take care of Scimitar and you'll get you're gold. As for Sal, he'll end up crawling to me."

"And what if that doesn't happen?" the leader of the mercenaries questioned. "What if he becomes a problem?"

"My little brother won't," 'Haze' replied. "In fact, I hope he joins us."

"I highly doubt that," the leader snorted. "But that doesn't matter to me as long as I get paid."

"You'll get your money. I guarantee it," 'Haze' affirmed as he walked passed him. "For now, assembled more mercenaries for another attack."

The mercenaries' kept their eyes focused on 'Haze,' who walked pass them and down the streets of Neo-Córdoba. The leader of the mercenaries especially did that for he knew there something 'Haze' had up his sleeve and whatever it was, he did not like it. Not one bit at all.

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KR Raika: And that's it for chapter 2! Please leave your comments in the reviews, and if you have any criticism, please let it be _**constructive**_!

Raika out!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider at all! It belongs to Toei and Ishinomori Shotaro! Only the OCs and OC Riders are original as well as the plot!

Chapter 3

Sal kept his eyes peered around the metropolitan setting of Neo-Córdoba, expecting an attack coming anywhere within the abandoned city. As he did, the young man rode his mechanized horse through the streets, keeping behind the navy blue armored figure known as Scimitar. He continued following the navy blue warrior through the streets of Neo-Córdoba until they reached the silver gates of the palace. As Scimitar approached the gates, Sal dismounted his method of transportation and grabbed the reigns for the mechanical horse to follow him and Scimitar.

Scimitar pushed open the silver gates, swinging wide open to reveal the front courtyard of the palace to the Sal. The red carpets at the gates continued all the to the inside of the palace itself, covering some bits of the courtyard's marbled floor. There were gardens on the sides of the courtyard with green grass, beautiful flowers, and tall trees that were once neatly trimmed, yet they now were a mess. "C'mon," Scimitar told Sal as he walked into the palace's courtyard.

Dragging the mechanical horse passed the gates, Sal followed Scimitar for a while before he tied the reigns to the gates, so his form of transportation would not go running off. Sal continued to follow Scimitar towards the entrance of the palace building, which seemed to be at least a couple stories high. The main entrance had a horseshoe arch and was supported by large, thick pillars with long coils wrapping around them like a snake would around its prey. The red carpet that covered some bits of the courtyard stopped right at the entrance, meeting the blue carpet with green and yellow patterns.

The alter ego of Malik looked at the large halls that were covered in silver, unlike the marbled white color that covered the outside of the palace. On the side were stained glass windows made of a multitude of colors and etched on the ceiling was even more calligraphy as well as patterns, which seemed foreign to most Europeans. The halls continued for long distances and branched off into more pathways that went into more courtyards and rooms. However, Sal and Scimitar's path was heading somewhere else entirely, not just any of the regular rooms, and when they reached their designated room, Sal knew what it was immediately. '_The throne room_,' Sal recognized.

The throne room of the palace was round with pillars to support the arched entrances as well as a large, golden throne that was placed with five other thrones, each one smaller and covered in bronze. The ceiling was shaped like a dome with small, glass windows that allowed beams of sunlight enter through them and reflecting into the center of the throne room. The throne room itself was very tall, with a height of thirty feet that that would astonish the most brilliant of architects as to how anyone could design such a structure. Upon entering the throne room, Scimitar let out a soft sigh, stating, "We're safe."

Much like Sal and Haze's buckles, a bright flash of energy erupted from the gem in Scimitar's buckle, and covered his body to rip away his armor. The flash retracted back into his buckle, revealing a young man a few years older than Sal and astonishing looked like him with the brown hair and blue eyes. The only thing that was different was that he had a neatly trimmed beard that covered most of his face. He wore a uniform consisting of a a purple shirt and pants underneath a white robe. Turning towards Sal, 'Scimitar' began, "Now you must have a lot of questions."

"I do, Adan," Sal said, his glare demanding for answers. "For one, just what happened between you and Aaron? I know you two didn't get along, but not the point where you would want to kill each other!"

'Scimitar,' now identified as Adan, tried to maintain a neutral stare at the user of Malik's armor. "Aaron betrayed his duty," Adan answered with a hint of distaste at the name. "He's given it up for power."

"I know that, but _why_? Why do that?" Sal questioned. "Aaron has been known to want to lead, but he's not stupid enough to do something like this without any reason."

Adan's neutral face faltered for just less than a second before it reverted back to normal. "I told you," was Adan's response. "He's been corrupted with power."

That answer did little to assuage Sal's irritation as he snarled at Adan's response. "Adan, I'm not dumb! Just because you and Aaron are my older brothers, doesn't mean you can keep secrets from me!" Sal shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at Adan. "Now I'll ask one more time: What happened to you two that would lead to this?"

Adan, now revealed to be Sal's older brother, sighed in defeat for Sal saw right through him. Though he wanted to keep it hidden, Adan could not any longer, so he answered, "After you left, Aaron and I found an old King Core inside the palace."

Upon hearing that, Sal's anger left his face as his eyes widen in shock. "Another King Core? Are you serious?" Sal asked and Adan nodded. "But I thought there were only three of them."

"That's what Aaron and I thought, too," Adan stated as he approached the golden throne in the chamber. "That was until we found this."

Once he said that, Sal noticed his older brother pressing a small button on the arm rest of the golden throne and something began emerging from the center of the chamber floor. It was a small, cylindrical stand that had a red, spherical gem placed upon the top. Sal's eyes widen in awe as he approached the stand and looked the red gem on it as the beams of light reflected off of it. "So this is the King Core you and Aaron found," Sal observed.

Nodding, Adan he walked next to his younger brother to look at the gem, now known as a King Core as he explained, "As you know, the King Core is the gem in our belts that gives us our armor and powers. Three of them were made by our parents and were given to us so we could protect this place, even though we didn't know why."

"So what about this one, then?" Sal questioned. "What does it do?"

Adan nodded. "Aaron and I found this fourth King Core inside the old palace. Unlike ours, this King Core does not give one any sort of armor."

"No armor?" Sal raised a curious eyebrow as he looked at Adan. "Then, what does this King Core do?"

"Don't know," Adan admitted as he stared at the King Core. "I'll have to run some tests on it first, but only after we deal with Aaron."

Sal noticed the look in Al's eyes and automatically deduced, "I'm assuming that you two argued over it."

"That obvious, huh?" Adan sighed before continuing. "I wanted to keep it hidden, so we could study it, but Aaron wanted to use it for his own gain. Our differences led to us fighting over the King Core and it fell into my hands. Aaron's been trying to take it back ever since."

Sal nodded at his older brother's explanation, but he still had some more questions in his head. "What about the cyborgs?" Sal asked.

"Mercenaries from the Castillian Empire," Adan quickly explained. "Aaron most likely promised them the gold from Neo-Córdoba, so they would fight for him. I've been having a hard time trying to fight them on my own."

Now that his questions were answered, Sal let out a soft sigh of frustration as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He recounted the events that occurred before he journeyed to Neo-Córdoba, and he began to piece the puzzle together. "So this is why Aaron wants me here," Sal muttered.

Sal's mutter was loud enough for Adan to hear, making the user of Scimitar's armor to looked at Malik's user. "What are you talking about?"

"Aaron attacked me while I was at Seville," Sal replied, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "He told me to come here, and I now know why. He wants me to join him and bring this King Core to him."

Adan stared at his younger brother and asked, "Will you do that?"

"No. I won't help Aaron," Sal shook his head. Adan would have been happy hearing those words, but he was not when he heard, "But I'm not helping you either."

Sal's older brother whipped his head over to his younger brother and questioned, "What?"

"I'll stay," Sal replied as he turned to face his older brother. "But remember, I'm only here to stop Aaron. After that, I'm leaving."

Adan would have protested at that, but he knew what Sal's reasons were and he knew that arguing would be pointless. "Alright," Adan sighed. "But you know that staying here, you can help rebuild the city, don't you?"

The user of Malik's armor simply rolled his eyes in irritation at his brother's words as he simply turned around to leave the chamber. "I've heard that before," Sal snarled with bitterness in his voice, "and frankly I'm getting tired of it."

A little surprised at the bitter response, Adan could only stare at Sal as he left the throne room with his older brother standing right next to the red King Core. Though Sal was his younger brother, Adan could feel an ominous feeling coming from the young man as he watched him leave. Adan knew his brother well, but there were times where he could not figure him out, and this was one of them. He could only hope that Sal would not make a horrible mistake. '_Be careful_,' Adan hoped.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sal walked through the front door of the palace and out into the courtyard as he looked up to see the red glare of the setting sun spreading across the sky. As he did, the young man could not help but notice there were mechanical limbs and lifeless bodies of cybernetic mercenaries scattered all over the streets of the city. Some of them were new, while others seemed like they were here for a few months. At the sight of this much death, guilt and pain began to well up inside of Sal as he remembered the last time he saw something like this. '_This is just like back _then_,_' Sal bitterly thought.

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(Flashback)

_ The young man know as Sal found himself standing in the same spot, this time a year younger with a uniform similar to Adan, except the shirt and pants were green, while the robe was black. He stared out into the streets of Neo-Córdoba, which was now filled with bodies all over. Most of the bodies belonged to cybernetic soldiers of the Castillian Empire, which one could tell from the silver and white Spaniard armor they wore over their bodies. His eyes stared in shock and horror at the carnage that he saw before him, not noticing Adan approaching from behind _

_ "How much longer must we do this?" Sal thought aloud as he placed a hand on his appalled face. "How much longer?"_

_ Adan's face was filled with worry as he noticed his younger brother's distraught. "Sal, are you alright?" he asked as he placed a hand on his shoulder._

_ Sal just momentarily looked over his shoulder at his older brother before he grabbed Adan's hand and tossed it off of his shoulder. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he roared as he backed away from Adan. "I don't want to ever see you or this place again!"_

_ Adan's eyes widen in shock at his younger brother's outrage as Sal turned around and walked through the streets of Neo-Córdoba. "Sal, what's happened to you?" Adan asked, shocked at his brother's behavior. "You've changed, and not in a good way."_

_ Hearing that, Sal turned around to face his older brother and laughed bitterly, "Changed? No, I've always been like this! I've always been tired of this life! I no longer want to have any part of it!" He pointed at his older brother and yelled, "The only reason why I never said anything was to please you and Aaron!"_

_ "But Sal..." Adan pleaded, but his words fell on deaf ears._

_ "I'm leaving!" Sal shouted._

_ With that, Sal ripped off his robe from his body and threw it down onto the ground before he turned around to leave, not taking another look at Adan. "Sal!" Adan called out, but his voice fell on deaf ears as Sal's form became smaller and smaller. "SAL!'_

(Flashback end)

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Sal came out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing through the streets of Neo-Córdoba as he saw the familiar form of 'Haze' walking out into the streets, right in front of Sal. "Just where do you think you're going, little brother?" 'Haze' voice called out.

"That's none of your concern," was all Sal said, keeping his tone neutral. "I know about the King Core, Aaron."

"Oh, do you now?" the real identity of 'Haze,' Aaron, smiled. "I'm assuming Adan told you that I wanted it for my own gain.."

"Actually, he didn't say anything, but then again, I don't really care," was Sal's cold response. "When you attacked me at Seville, I thought something terrible happened. But it turns out it's nothing more than one of your feuds."

Aaron's smirk turned into a snarl when he heard his younger brother's response as he shouted, "This isn't just another feud, Sal! Don't you know what that King Core can do?"

"No, but neither do you," Sal retorted. "Whatever you have planning, I'm not going to be a part of it."

"Sal, that King Core can give its user unlimited power!" Aaron exclaimed. "With that power, we can use it to protect the city from any invaders! Can't you see that?"

Sal's eyes widen a bit at Aaron's exclamation as he realized why Aaron wanted the King Core, but that surprise went away for he knew his older brother, too well. "If it does have power, then it's best to not let it fall into your hands."

Aaron just stood there, staring his youngest brother and user of Malik's armor with a look that filled with a mixture of disbelief and anger. "A pity," Aaron sighed, trying to contain his rage. "And I thought you would join me."

With that, Aaron snapped his fingers and the sound echoed throughout the air of the city. Before the user of Malik's armor had the chance to act, a blast struck the ground near his feet, which sent Sal flying off of it and onto the ground. As Sal stood, he glared at Aaron, seeing he was now accompanied by another cloaked mercenary, who appeared to be a young woman. She had a brown cloak that the other mercenaries wore, but Malik could see she wore a white shirt and pants with a black belt and brown boots. The hood concealed her identity as it covered her head, and mechanical limbs that replaced her forearms that seemed more human than menacing. "Be a dear and take care of him," Aaron told the female cloaked mercenary in front of himself.

As Aaron turned around to leave, the female mercenary charged at Sal, who stood up and his belt materialized around his waist. "Henshin!" he exclaimed.

Sal's King Core, the golden gem in his belt buckle, released a flash of energy that engulfed Sal's body, transforming him into his armored form of Malik. His armor appeared on his body in time for Malik to raised his armored hand and catch the female mercenary's fist that was aimed for his face. Malik moved his head to the side when a triangular blade protruded from the female mercenary's arm that her fist was connected to. Quickly, Malik grabbed the hilt of his sword with his other hand and rammed the butt-end of the handle into the mercenary's stomach, forcing her back.

With some distance between the mercenary and himself, Malik could finally get a good look at who he was fighting. The hood was down now, so Malik could tell the female mercenary was around his age with a fair skin complexion, green eyes, and brown hair that went down to her shoulders. Upon looking at the female mercenary, Malik could not help but think that there was something about this one that deviated from the other mercenaries. He simply shook the thought away as he focused on the fight at hand.

The female mercenary charged and slashed her bladed arm at Malik, who ducked the slash before drawing his sword and blocking another slash. When she launched her other fist at Malik, the female mercenary found it caught in her opponent's free hand before she felt Malik's right leg ram into stomach. The female mercenary was sent stumbling back, but Malik did not charge at her for he instead stood there with his sword in his hand. She let out a small growl of frustration at Malik as she once again charged at him.

Malik backed away to avoid a slash from his attacker, but he was taken by surprise as the female mercenary raised her other arm and a black blaster popped out before mounting itself onto her left forearm. Malik did not have enough time to avoid a blue blast coming out of the mercenary's mounted blaster as it struck his armored chest. Though he was sent stumbling back, Malik was able to regain his footing and he gripped his blade, which made the mercenary curious as she recovered from the kick. '_What is he doing?_' she wondered.

The mercenary would eventually find her answer when Malik's eyes glowed with golden energy for a moment. The energy immediately transferred from his King Core to the sword in his hand, gathering around his metallic blade. Once the blade became fully charged, Malik swung it across the air, sending a golden wave of energy heading towards the female mercenary. "GAH!" she cried out in pain as the energy wave struck her.

Her back colliding with the ground a few yards away from Malik, the mercenary could only feel pain all over her body. Malik saw this was his chance to end this, so he jumped into the air with golden energy gathering at his right foot. While the mercenary was down, Malik stuck out his right foot into a flying-kick position, announcing his attack of, "_King's Strike!_"

Malik was sure his foot would have collided with the mercenary Aaron sent to eliminate him. His charged foot struck, causing a lot of dust from the ground to shoot up into the air. The dust would have spread for a couple of yards that covered the entire area, which would have blinded anyone in the vicinity. Eventually, the dust settled down as Malik removed his foot where it had struck. However, the mercenary's face remained unharmed as she just stared at Malik with shocked eyes. Right next to her head was a hole the size of Malik's foot and was about six inches deep.

The mercenary's shocked eyes turned into anger as she used her elbows to raise her head above the ground. "Why did you miss?" she demanded as she stood up. "You were supposed to kill me!"

Malik just stood there and answered, "Too many people have already died as it is. Get out of here, while you still can. Leave this place before you die."

After speaking those words, Malik turned around with his back facing the mercenary as he began walking away from her and towards his destination, which surprisingly was not the palace. As he walked down the streets of Neo-Cordoba, Malik's armored form was covered in the light from his King Core, reverting him back to Sal. He knew the mercenary would not attack from behind, since he had just spared her life, so he continued to leave. His form became smaller and smaller to the mercenary's eyes as he strolled the paved streets and headed towards his destination.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sal continued his stroll through the streets of Neo-Cordoba, passing through the metropolitan building and continuing to the northern wing of the city. The buildings began to grow smaller in size as Sal passed from the upper class ring in the center and go through the lower class outer-ring. The area turned from its royal essence to a much more simpler background with humble houses placed at the sides of the street and small markets for people to purchase goods. In the center of the area was what appeared to be a park filled with lush grass and firm trees that had leaves colored in red, yellow, and gold.

The young man slowed his pace until he halted in front of one of the many trees. Underneath its large branches were two nameless tombstones, each placed on top of a piled of dirt that covered a lifeless corpse. Sal just stood there, and stared at the two tombstones. "Well, I'm back," Sal said with hint of nostalgia, his bitterness gone from his voice. "I know I planned to never return, but I did. Guess it's because I'm too fond my brothers." Sal let out a soft chuckle at that. "Imagine that. Even though I should hate them for what they've done, I don't. I guess that's the problem of having someone in your family by your enemy. Gets too complicated, if you ask me."

There was a moment of silence as Sal just stared at the two tombstones. "But that's not why I'm here. You know why, and I'm here to tell you two that after this, I'm leaving. I've been a part of this for too long. That's all I wanted to say."

And so, Sal turned around to leave, but he stopped himself from leaving and he looked over his shoulder at the tombstones. "Goodbye," was all Sal said. "Rest in peace."

The user of Malik's armor left the two tombstones to themselves and soon exited the part to head back to Adan. A red leaf fell from a branch above the tombstones and in between the two burial mounds, landing in front of what appeared to be a picture that contained five people. One was a man in his forties standing next to a woman about his age, who one would assume was his wife. In front of the couple were three boys, each one carrying distinctive traits of the adults behind them. The one in the middle was the shortest, standing between two taller boys. He oddly looked a lot like a younger version of Sal, so one would assume the other two boys were his brothers.

The strange thing was that the children in the photo were not angry at each other. They were smiling, they all were for they were together, like a family.

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KR Raika: And that's it! Please leave your comments in the reviews, and if you have any criticism, please let it be _**constructive**_!

Raika out!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider at all! It belongs to Toei and Ishinomori Shotaro! Only the OCs and OC Riders are original as well as the plot!

KR Raika: Alright, I've given up on this story as well, so I'll be discontinuing it. I may start it up again, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. Still, I think I should show you what I had for chapter 4 and what I planned for the rest of the story. Here is it!

Chapter 4

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"_To King Henry of Seville,_

_ I have safely arrived at my destination. I am not sure how long I plan to stay here. It may be days, maybe even months until I return, so do not expect me to back so soon. I will try to send another message to inform you of my situation. Until then, please be patient. Thank you._

_ From,_

_ Commander Sal of the Tariqun Army"_

'_It'll have to do_,' Sal thought to himself as he finished reading the message he wrote.

The young man, who could become Malik, was in one of the bedroom of Neo-Cordoba's palace that served as he temporary quarters. The bedroom was large, much like the other ones in the palace with a stained, glass window on one side while on the other was a brown desk that was accompanied by a black chair. The large bed at the end of the room had a large, green mattress with lavender sheets, white pillows and a black canopy that was supported by four black pillars that were on the corners of the bed. Hanging from the canopy were green curtains that were almost see-through. Sal, who wore a simple black robe over his green shirt and pants, sat the desk in his room, inspecting the letter he wrote on paper with a quill that was placed in an ink cup on the side. On the other side of the desk was a small, box-shaped machine with a slot on the top that could transfer the letter to its destination, given if the destination had another machine capable of receiving it.

Sal folded the letter he wrote before placing it over the slot on the box-shaped device placed on his desk, a bright light erupted from the slot to scan the letter. The letter that Sal wrote, soon, broken apart into small bits of data that was transferred into the device, sending it to the King of Seville. "I hope he gets it," Sal muttered to himself as he stood up from his desk.

With that, Sal left his room and found himself in the large hallways that made up most of the inside of the palace before he headed toward his new destination, the throne room. The alter ego of Malik trekked through the halls eventually lead to a set of stair that entered the center courtyard of the palace.

Like the floors of the palace, the courtyard had white marble tiles, most of them with cracks from the passage of time, covering the ground, but there were some areas where gardens grew. In the center of the courtyard was a broken, while fountain that still sprout water from the tip and fell onto its base. If anyone walked through the courtyard, they would be amazed, but Sal did not even pay attention to it as he continued walking, entering through another hall that tunneled its way through the palace and towards the throne room.

When entering the throne room, Sal saw his older brother in the center, looking at a cylindrical console that had a holographic screen that depicted the layout of the city. Within the layout of the palace were two blue dots, obviously Sal and Adan, while at the outer rings of the city, there were a gathering of red dots, which most likely represented Aaron and his group of mercenaries. Sal's footsteps came to a halt as he stared at the holographic screen.

"So this is how you've been keeping track of them," he observed loudly, gaining Adan's attention. Looking at his older brother, Sal asked, "Since when has this been here?"

"I discovered it before Aaron and I found the King Core," was Adan's response as he turned his attention back to the holographic map. "I thought it would be useful, considering I was fighting Aaron on my own."

Sal found the response to be satisfactory as he walked up to his older brother's side to inspect the holographic image of the city. "Anything on Aaron's movements?"

"Nothing yet," Adan replied, his eyes never leaving the map. "It seems like they've been focused more in the outer areas of the city."

"Have they tried attacking the palace?"

Adan simply shook his head. "Not with the force field up?"

The words "force field" made Sal look at his older brother with surprise and astonishment on his face, but it was soon gone as he realized how Adan figured it out. "Let me guess: another thing you found along with this?" Sal said as he gestured towards the holographic map.

"Correct," Adan told his younger brother. "I've had it on for a while now. I only turn it off when I'm out of the palace."

Nodding at that, Sal turned his attention away from his older bother to the holographic screen that was before the two. He stared at the red dots that represented Aaron and his mercenaries, and suddenly, a question popped into Sal's head when looked at a small bit of the map. "How many of Aaron's forces are here?" he asked as he pointed towards it.

Looking up, Adan saw where his younger brother was pointing to before he answered, "Only five of them. Why do you ask?"

"Because we take this chance to attack them," was Sal's reply.

Adan was little surprised at that answer as he looked at his Sal. "What?"

Looking at his older brother, Sal stated, "Well, since we know where they are, we have the element of surprise. I can just go there and take out the mercenaries without them knowing."

The alter ego of Scimitar stared at Sal with a little surprise, asking, "Since when did you learn to become a tactician?"

"When serving in the Tariqun army, you learn a few things," was Sal's response before looking at Adan. "So?"

Adan stared into space, considering Sal's plan until he looked at him and said, "Very well. Head out to the outer ring, but you won't be going outer there blind. I'll be guiding you from here, while you take out those mercenaries."

Nodding, Sal turned around to leave the throne room, while Adan saw the familiar glow of Sal's King Core erupting from his buckle to engulf his body. Adan only saw Malik's black-armored form leap into the air, the walls of the throne room covering his leave. Adan turned his head back towards the holographic map in front of him, hoping that Sal would not do anything stupid.

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PLOT -

Chapters 4-6: Malik fight one of his oldest brother's minions named Emi, but can't kill her. They then see each other secretly.

Chapters 7-8: Haze finds out about Emi and Malik, so he tortures her, making Malik fight him. Malik beats his oldest brother by using the old King Core to access a hidden power in his King Core, and saves Emi. Malik lets Haze live, and Haze runs away.

Chapters 14-20: The four band together against a man named Moram, who leads a force of more cyborgs from the Castillian Empire. Moram plans to take the old King Core for himself. When fighting him, Moram reveals he was once an advisor the the king of Neo-Córdoba, who was the Riders' grandfather, before he was exiled. The Riders try to take this in and still fight Moram with Malik using the old King Core again to defeat Moram at the expense of destroying the old King Core. Sal then becomes the king of Neo-Córdoba with Emi as his queen.

THE END

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KR Raika: That's it for my story! I appreciate those who took their time to read it, and if you have comments, please leave them in the reviews. Also, if you have any criticism, please let it be _**constructive**_. Thank you.

Raika out!

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